


The Lesser of Two Evils

by amoleofmonsters



Series: Sheith Month 2018 Fics [21]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Sheith Month 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 02:56:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15572148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amoleofmonsters/pseuds/amoleofmonsters
Summary: "Keith doesn’t want to think it, but his unhelpful brain takes him there anyway. Is Shiro cheating on him?"--For Sheith Month 2018. Day 29: Lies





	The Lesser of Two Evils

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at sharkrinsoup.tumblr.com!

Shiro is late coming home for the third time that week. There’s a nervous energy just under Keith’s skin and he can’t help but pace back and forth throughout the apartment. He had expected to have his husband to himself that night, but it is already nine o’clock and Shiro is nowhere to be seen. He’d sent his husband a panicked message only an hour before, but there is still no response. Shiro had been home late almost every night that week and he is just as unresponsive tonight as all of the other nights. 

Keith doesn’t want to think the worst. He loves Shiro more than anything, but he’s starting to get sick with worry. The worst-case scenarios begin to swirl in his head. Is Shiro caught up in something dangerous? Is Shiro selling drugs on the streets? Money had been tight recently so it isn’t out of the question. Keith’s brow tightens and he hugs himself. What if it is something more personal? Keith doesn’t want to think it, but his unhelpful brain takes him there anyway. Is Shiro cheating on him? Had Shiro met someone at work or at a bar and is spending his nights in the arms of another? Keith doesn’t want to think it, but with the lack of answers, he doesn’t know what else it could possibly be. 

Keith hears the front door unlock and he swings around to see Shiro stepping through the threshold of the apartment. Relief floods him as he runs to Shiro and pulls him into a kiss. Shiro practically lifts him off of the floor and twirls him around, letting Keith push his hands through his hair. When they break their kiss, Keith steps back and says, “Welcome home.” 

“I’m sorry I’m late. I’m gonna grab some dinner.” 

Keith follows Shiro into the kitchen and sits at the table as Shiro reheats some leftovers from when they’d had Chinese food two nights ago. They’re silent as Shiro eats. Keith’s brain swirls with more questions than answers. He’s happy that Shiro is home, but the nagging feeling refuses to go away. He fills a mug with water to try and calm his nervous energy, but it doesn’t help. Shiro looks up from his food and says, “You’re awfully quiet. A penny for your thoughts?” 

Keith’s eyes slide across Shiro’s face, trying to see if there’s any evidence, a hickey maybe? But when all he finds are earnest, loving eyes, he gives up and says, “I’m worried about where you go when you come home late.” 

“Oh, tonight I just got held up at work. I’m sorry. I should have called, but it was just really chaotic and I figured a text message would be good enough.” 

“And Monday?” 

“Drinks with some work friends.” 

“On a Monday?” 

Shiro gives Keith a confused look. “Yeah. Why, not?” 

“Just... you did that on Thursday, too. I was just hoping we’d get more than one night a week to spend together.” 

Shiro smiles sheepishly. “I’m sorry. Things have been kind of chaotic, but I promise I’ll make it up to you soon.” Shiro seems sincere, but Keith can’t let his thoughts go. There’s still a monstrous, swirling feeling in his stomach and Shiro’s words do nothing to calm it. In his head, he sees Shiro getting fucked into a mattress by an anonymous man, maybe even the same man he sold drugs for. The thoughts hurt and he curls in on himself. Shiro leans over with shock and worry etched onto his features, and wipes something from Keith’s cheek. Keith realizes that he’s crying. “Hey, no, what’s wrong?” 

It comes out of Keith’s mouth before he can stop it. “Are you cheating on me?” 

Shiro pulls back as if he’s been burned. “What?”

“I know it’s ridiculous, but you’ve been coming home late so much recently and with such last minute notice. I don’t want to imagine it, but I don’t know what else to think. What am I supposed to think?” 

Shiro sits back down in his chair and pulls it up next to Keith. He takes Keith’s hands in his and presses a kiss to the knuckle. “I promise I’m not cheating on you. Fuck, I should have just told you, but I didn’t know how.” His eyes are downcast and the guilt is practically rolling off of him in waves. 

“Told me what?” 

“I enrolled in a really experimental treatment program. It’s only in the recruitment stage, but it’s risky. They said there’s a twenty percent chance I could die, but if I don’t, then I’m likely to be cured. I didn’t want to let myself waste away without trying, you know? But I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want you to think I was risking what few years we still have left. I didn’t want you to get angry, but I guess all I did was cause you to think I was cheating on you.”

Keith takes Shiro’s face in his hands and presses their foreheads together. “I would never, ever think that. If this treatment is something you feel that you need, then why would I try to stop you?” 

Shiro starts to cry. “Adam tried to stop me with Kerberos and then broke up with me. I couldn’t imagine losing you like that.” 

Keith wraps his arms around Shiro and pulls him into a hug. “I’m not Adam. I will support you no matter what. We’ll deal with the effects that this has on our marriage when we have to. I love you, Takashi. In sickness and in health, remember?” 

“I love you, too, and I’m sorry that I made you think that I was cheating on you.” 

Keith steps back from the hug and drops his hands on Shiro’s shoulders. “Just like you thought I wouldn’t support you in your medical treatments, I thought you were cheating on me. We’re just a pair of idiots, aren’t we? No more secrets from now on, okay?” 

Shiro nods. “No more secrets.”


End file.
